Methodology
This page covers the general methodology, highly informed by philology and linguistic anthropology, used to create the foundation for Eliksnas. Goals The goals of the project are outlined here, in no particular order as they are all given equal priority. Balancing them can be difficult but we do our best. Canon Combatible In short, the central idea here is this should be an extension of what Bungie has already written and what is observable in-game. It should not feel out of place, but fit nicely in with what already exists, primarily by being based ''on what already exists. Realism Despite being a pet project for a sci-fi video game with, ostensibly, "space magic", another goal is to at least make the language feel real, not artificial, but natural. Plug-And-Play Finally, since the main demographic this is being creative for is fiction writers, not linguists, while the option will exist to delve deep into the linguistics of it, a major priority is that it's ultimately presented in a simple, easy to use, no linguistic knowledge required sort of way. Philology & Observation In a way, Bungie has provided us with two sources to draw from which are often opposing in many ways, so it will be this project's job to not only draw on both, but find a way of combining them in a complimentary fashion. Philology For those not in the know, philology is ostensibly the study of ''written ''language, especially over the course of history. And when it comes to written language for the Eliksni, we have quite a lot if you think about it. We have a (possibly fragmentary) alphabet of some kind, but more importantly we have the names and spelling of so many individual Eliksni. While often the meaning is unknown, this can give us a fair idea of how their language works on a phonological (the sound of it, basically) level. The only thing to keep in mind is much if not all of that is, in a sense, Anglicized. Observation With the exception of a few named characters, who are always speaking ''English (or whatever language English is the stand-in for) pretty much all the Eliksni you encounter seem more to be hissing and gurgling at you than anything else. Surely it's not just a case of having lost all capability for language, as you get the same treatment even from archons, not just dregs. Thus the challenge here is to try to come up with a reasonable explanation for why all ''observable ''Eliksni language sounds like hissed gibberish. A Final Note Yes, for the sake of doubters and critics, all involved in the project are well aware that the Fallen "language" was never intended to be subjected to such scientific scrutiny. We don't expect to "unlock" any secrets. You must understand that if we're to meet our goals, a key aspect of ''constructing ''a language is ''de-constructing ''what little may already exist to better understand what bits and pieces we have at our disposal as a starting point. Category:Process Category:Methodology